Cast thumbnails for ALL content disappear (become blank with just the actor’s initials) upon upgrade to Plex Android app version 8.26.2.29389 on a Firestick 4K. The Cast pics were there two days ago, and today suddenly they’re all blank. The Cast pics are still showing fine on the server (Plex web), on the Xbox app, and they’re even fine on Android 8.26.2.29389 running on my Galaxy S10 cell phone. But on a Firestick 4K I use every couple of days, they’re gone.
I rebooted my server just in case, and then I did troubleshoot the Firestick app in stages. I tried restarting the Firestick. Then I cleared the app’s cache, and restarted again. Then I cleared the app’s data, and signed back in from scratch, etc. But none of that helped. The Cast pictures simply won’t show anymore.
Then I verified the SAME behavior on a second Firestick 4K I have, that I use when I travel. I plugged in the second Firestick 4K, and opened Plex. Right when the Plex app first came up, I saw content I’d added just last night, and the cast pictures WERE present just like they should be. (The Plex Android app version was 8.19.4.26517.) But then like 30 seconds later the Plex app closed and updated itself to 8.26.2.29389. Immediately upon opening the app again the Cast thumbnails for all of my content were blank.
I did notice that the second Firestick 4K itself was also downloading an update, because it had been unplugged for a couple of months. But the update hadn’t finished downloading yet, so that doesn’t seem to be the issue. Plus, as I stated, Cast thumbnails were fine on a Firestick 4K that stays plugged in and is used regularly and was already up to date. [After its update, the second Firestick is now on Fire OS 6.2.8.0 and the Fire TV Home Version is 6311079.1.]
Plex Server Version#: 1.24.5.5173 running on Windows 10.
Android Player Version#: 8.26.2.29389.
I just got the update to Plex Media Server 1.25.2.5319 (running on Windows 10). I was hoping that would fix this issue, but it didn’t. I assume it’s going to take an update to the actual Android client to resolve this problem.
We went forever in the Android client without even having cast thumbnails at all. Now after finally getting them just a few months ago, to have the images go completely blank is extremely irritating. This needs to be resolved, and the Android client also needs to get the functionality the other platform clients have, where you can click on the thumbnails to filter/show content you have on your server that features that actor.
Zero news. I periodically check to see if the app updated on my Firesticks, and when I see that it’s a new version but the cast thumbnails are still blank, I go through the same steps of clearing the cache and data just in case. I’ve even gone back in and changed dozens of settings - anything I thought might have an affect on the appearance/layout of the app. But if it’s a combination of settings, I haven’t stumbled upon it. My Firestick 4K is on 8.29.0.30433 now, and it’s still broken. Cast pictures are still present on my Galaxy S10 cell phone (8.29.1.30697), and on my Xbox. Plex Server version is now 1.25.4.5487.
To me, this is the most annoying thing about Plex overall. Not the issue itself, because developers are human and things break. But it’s that when things do go wrong, it’s hit or miss that the issue is even acknowledged by anyone. For all I know, Plex is aware of the issue and a fix is imminent. But it’s just as likely that this thread is so small that nobody who matters has even seen it. (All of us having the problem could even be missing something obvious.)
The one thing I would like to see added to Plex Pass is the ability to actually put in a support ticket and get a response. I’ve been in IT for 30 years, and this lack of interaction between a company and a paying customer is utterly foreign to every principle I’ve learned and taught. I know I’m not the first person to express that view, either, and nothing has really changed on that front. (Plenty of other software companies who charge a lot less for their paid licenses have excellent support interaction.) But if Plex thinks it doesn’t affect them at all, they’re wrong. I’ve recommended to at least 7-8 people that they not buy the lifetime Plex Pass, because without a better way than this forum to handle problems that arise, I truly don’t think it’s worth it.
Hello
Thank you!
The latest Plex update for fire stick was just released, and while the update did fix the FireStick Artist Photo issue and resolved the clicking artist to show related media, the problems both still exists on my older FireStick 4K (non 4K).
Completely removed Plex from my 4K and reinstalled Plex…no joy.
FireStick is updated.
I did note that while Plex version 733 is installed, FireStick still tags the app as having update 733 available for install. Some hook not set?
Recommend your regression testing include the FireStick 4K, as these are still the most popular devices.
The issue is fixed in 8.30, but version 8.30 is not available on the Amazon App Store yet, or on the Google Play store either, despite it being five days now since it was released. The only way to get it at the moment of this posting is to side-load it onto the Fire Stick.
The cast photos are back but cast with no photos are now showing up with my generic (single letter) user icon, instead of the normal blank one with the actor’s initials. This is on a Fire Stick 4K (2018). The very first Fire Stick 4K.
The update to Plex Android app version 8.30.1.31022 resolves this issue for me on all three of my Firestick 4K devices. I didn’t try to get the beta and/or sideload the app, but apparently 8.30 was released in the last few days, because I just received the update to that version on all of my Firestick 4K devices, which were all purchased between April 2019 and August 2020. Plus, not only are the Cast thumbnails back in 8.30, but the Firestick 4K’s also finally got the ability to show other content in your library featuring that same actor when you click on the thumbnail, which is something that’s been lacking on the Firesticks since I joined Plex a couple of years ago. Good deal.
The comment above this one mentioned having the same issue on non-4K Firesticks even after installing the 8.30 beta – at least I think that’s what the poster meant by saying he had an “older FireStick 4K (non 4K).” Perhaps the release version (vs. the beta) resolved the issue on those devices, too? But I don’t have any non-4K Firesticks, so I can’t comment on that, and this thread was specific to Firestick 4K devices. So I’ll mark this as the solution.
